PALLONE, KNOLLENBERG AND CROWLEY URGE STATE DEPARTMENT TO CLARIFY MISREPRESENTATION OF NAGORNO KARABAKH
ArmRadio.am
04.05.2007 10:41
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe
Knollenberg (R-MI) were joined by House Foreign Affairs Committee
Member Joe Crowley (D-NY) this week in urging the State Department
to clarify inaccurate language in its 2006 human rights report that
dramatically mischaracterizes the fundamental realities of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).
"Armenian Americans appreciate the leadership of Armenian Caucus
Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg and Frank Pallone and Congressman Joe
Crowley in seeking clarification from the Department of State
concerning its patently inaccurate and entirely unprecedented
misrepresentation of Armenia as an occupier of Nagorno Karabagh
and Azerbaijani territory," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian. "We look forward to the State Department’s timely response
to their questions and to learning of the steps that the Secretary
intends to take to rectify the damage that this ill- advised and
destructive misrepresentation has already caused to the peace process."
The controversy began earlier this year with the inclusion, for the
first time, of language in the Armenia and Azerbaijan sections of the
State Department’s 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,
which asserted that Armenia is occupying Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijani territory. While the State Department initially made a
correction to this text, albeit not a fully accurate one, it later
reverted to its original wording following public threats by Azerbaijan
to cancel bilateral security talks in Washington, DC.
During a May 2nd House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on
the human rights report, Congressman Crowley, a senior and well-
respected member of the panel, submitted the following question to
the State Department’s witness, Assistant Secretary for Human Rights
Barry Lowenkron: "The statement that ‘Armenia continues to occupy
the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding
Azerbaijani territories’ in the 2006 State Department Human Rights
report on Armenia has created significant controversy among the US,
Azerbaijan, Armenia and NK. Can you confirm that the references to
Armenia’s forces and NK’s status do not reflect the facts on the
ground and are contrary to current U.S. policy?"
Rep. Crowley went on to "urge that this factually incorrect statement
be removed forthwith" from the report in an effort to preserve its
integrity.
In a separate letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, issued on
Thursday, May 3rd, Reps. Pallone and Knollenberg expressed "strong
concerns regarding inaccuracies in the recent series of changes
to the Armenia section of the 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices." They argued that, "in addition to the troubling precedent
set by allowing a foreign state to shape the assessments of our human
rights report, we are deeply disturbed that the State Department’s
mischaracterization of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is inaccurate,
unprecedented, and counter-productive to our government’s goal of
actively promoting constructive engagement in the peace negotiations
in the region."
The Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs specifically called on Secretary Rice to
publicly clarify that the report’s language describing Armenia as an
occupier of Azerbaijani territory and Nagorno Karabakh is inaccurate
and does not reflect US foreign policy; the United States views the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict as fundamentally about the self-determination
of the people of Nagorno Karabakh; and this misrepresentation would
not appear in future reports or other official documents.